School system sending collection agency after unpaid lunch money

FILE – In this Friday, May 19, 2017 file photo, students line up for lunch at a middle school in Sandy, Utah. On Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the scaling back contested school lunch standards implemented under the Obama administration, including one that required only whole grains be served. (Laura […]

You’ve heard the saying, “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” That’s why Cranston Schools are now looking to collect unpaid lunch balances.

Chief Operating Officer Raymond L. Votto, Jr. sent a letter to all parents in the district, informing them the district has hired Transworld Systems – a collection agency – to try an recoup money owed for lunches.

Votto said the school district wrote off $95,508 in unpaid lunches from September 2016 through June 2018. And it hasn’t gotten better this school year. Since September, he said the unpaid lunch balance is $45,859.

“In the past, the school district has attempted to collect unpaid lunch balances without much success,” Votto said in the letter. “The District lunch program cannot continue to lose revenue.”

Votto said Transworld will begin its collection efforts January 2, 2019.

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